The Norwegian motor tanker Norland under attack by U-108 under Klaus Scholtz on the 20th of May, 1942. Photograph/s taken by U-108 crewmember Willi Wilke. Probably because the ship was afloat less than a year there are no other known images of this vessel.

Photo Source: with permission from James “Jim” Payne, “Through their eyes” http://www.throughtheireyes2.co.uk/, from whom a CD of these images is available. Photos also at http://warsailors.com/singleships/norland.html, again with the permission of Mr. Payne (please ask him before using).The Norwegian motor tanker Norland was built by Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Limited of Scotstoun, near Glasgow and launched in September 1941 as yard number 64. Commissioned by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) of the UK, her original name was Empire Pict. On the 6thof May 1942 she was transferred to the Norwegian government in exile (the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission or Notraship, in London) and given the new name Norland.

Built of steel Norland was 8,134 gross registered tons, 463.2 feet long, 61.2 feet wide, and 33 feet deep. Her motor was built by John G. Kincaid and Company Ltd. of Greenock, Scotland and developed 2,450 bhp or 490 net horsepower, which pushed the steel ship at 12 knots. The ship was armed and her four-inch gun and machine guns were manned by four military gunners (Hedve Davis, Harry Meek, Gilbert Burron, and Thomas Sullivan) who shipped with the mostly Norwegian and British officers and crew, who totaled 48.

The Norland’s Master on its first and final voyage was Captain Eugen Cristoffersen, a Norwegian. There were several teenagers amongst the large crew, including Mess Room Boy Ronald John Wilson, 15, Engine Boy Thomas Miller, 16, Engine Boy John Hannah, 16, Deck Boy Victor Annesley Haggith, 15, Mess Room Boy William Morris Cohen, 16, and Engine Boy Francis J. Agnew. Aside from Norwegians there were two South Africans and a Swede in the crew. The Chief Officer was Gilbert R. Schmidt, a Dane, the Second Officer was Andreas Bjelde and the Third Officer Knut Kristiansen, 29, both of Norway. The Chief Radio Operator was Daniel McNeil, age 35.

Fifteen-year-old Victor Annesley Haggith, Deck Boy aboard the Norland, who survived the sinking. His great niece Brandi Murray told Dame Siri Holm Lawson about how her great uncle joined the Norland: “…he’d lied about his age, and had run off to join the Merchant’s instead of going to school one day! Sold his bike and used the money to to telegram his Mother, “Gone to sea to avenge the Hood. Vic.”

The Norland sailed the day following her delivery in Glasgow – on Thursday the 7thof May she left Gourock Scotland for Liverpool. There she joined Convoy ON 93 with 26 merchant ships and 5 escorts. Her destination was Corpus Christi Texas (some sources say Port Arthur or Galveston, Texas), to load aviation fuel destined for the UK. Captain Christoffersen loaded 5,000 tons of water ballast. To do this he and Chief Officer Schmidt filled center tanks 2, 4, 6 and 8 all the way, then also allowed sea water up to sea level in wing tanks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 on either side. The ship’s draft afterwards was 19 feet forward and 23 feet aft – a deep enough target for torpedoes.

The convoy dispersed on Sunday the 17th of May in position 38.55N, 43.43W, roughly 500 nautical miles southwest of the Azores and 1,140 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda. By the early afternoon of Wednesday the 20thof May 1942 the Norland was 475 nautical miles east-southeast of Bermuda, 925 nautical miles southeast of Nantucket and roughly 1,000 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras.

At mid day on the 20th the Norland was motoring on a course of 236 degrees southwest True and making 12.5 knots. She was not zig zagging. There were four lookouts: Second Officer Bjelde along with two watch-standers on the bridge and one on the monkey island above the wheelhouse. Swedish Ordinary Seaman Rolf Inage Danielsson, aged 18, was at the wheel. Three of the four gun crew were on duty aft. The weather was described as clear, the seas moderate, with a wind from the southeast at about 10 to 15 knots. Visibility was excellent.

Nothing was seen however, and at 12:57 pm there was a “tremendous blow” on the starboard side in the number 8 tank aft, which was just forward of the bridge. From ten feet below the water up to the ship’s side and even to the extent of bulging the deck plates upward, there was a large hole in the ship’s side roughly 50 to 60 feet long.Mess Boy William Cohen remembered that “…a loud bang was heard throughout the ship, there was a slight shudder. I heard one of the men shout out “torpedo!” The men came running out of the mess rooms and I went over to [Mess Boy] Ronnie’s pantry. He had slipped and was sitting on deck. I shouted “torpedo!” He replied, “No kidding.”

Though the engines were immediately stopped for five minutes, by 1:02 pm Captain Christoffersen defiantly raised the Norwegian ensign, stabilized the ship somewhat by allowing seawater into the tanks on the opposite side, and ordered the ship to motor at full speed for Bermuda. When he had rushed from his cabin to the bridge he observed men preparing to launch the lifeboats and he ordered them to stop. Cohen said “We went on deck. The crew were all active on different tasks.”

M/T Norland mortally hit – or is it? This image by a crew on U-108 shows the massive hole ripped in the starboard side of the Norland. Despite this gaping wound Captain Christoffersen counterbalanced the weight with water ballast and motored for Bermuda at full speed. This photo would have been taken after the ship was abandoned and the sub’s shells had started fires aboard.

The Norland motored away but was unable to gain full speed. Whilst scanning the horizon for their foe the gunners sighted a periscope roughly ten minutes later and fried at it. The submarine – U-108 under Korvettenkapitän Klaus Scholtz, submerged right away. But half an hour later the U-boat re-emerged from the depths and began shelling the ship. At that point the Norland’s gunners opened up in earnest, firing 15 to 20 shells.

Cohen records that “Ronnie and I helped to carry the shells up to the gun platform. The first shot our crew fired deafened us. We had nothing to cover our ears. Our shots did not reach the enemy, but their shots were landing on us.” What the 16-year old may not have known was that the submarine, with superior artillery, was some six miles away, out of range of the merchant ship’s single gun.

SS or “submarine sighted” messages on the emergency frequencies for half an hour. These were picked up in Halifax Canada and the US and on-passed to the British Admiralty, which relayed them to Bermuda. The Eastern Sea Frontier Enemy Action Diary for 20th May notes that the Norland was attacked east of Bermuda.

By between 2:30 pm and 3:00 pm ship’s time, roughly two hours after the torpedo initiated the attack, the bridge had been hit and the with it likely the aerials. According to Cohen a fire broke out on the bridge – this is substantiated by photographs which U-108 crewman Willi Wilke took, which show smoke spewing from the stricken ship. Captain Christoffersen stopped the engines, threw the confidential codes overboard and ordered the ship abandoned The 48 men succeeded in launching three lifeboats. None of the men had been severely injured by the shells.

As the Norland slowed down the submarine caught up with the ship and the German’s artillery became more accurate. The boats rowed away from the hulk to avoid being hit by errant shells. Scholtz focused on destroying the Norland, which finally rolled over and sank at about 8:00 pm ship’s time. By then Scholtz’s men had expended all of their 37-milimeter ammunition hitting the wing tanks filled with seawater. Only 14 of the 100 shells from the deck gun were observed to have hit the ship.

According to a US Navy post-mortem, “Submarine was last seen circling the ship and firing shells…”. Cohen wrote that “The submarine continued to fire shells at the Norland as we rowed further away from the ship.” Scholtz never bothered to ask the survivors the name of their ship or destination. He would have already obtained it from the radio signals and seeing the ship up-close.

The Norland rolling over and sinking, as seen from the German submarine U-108 on 20 May 1942.

Photo Source: with permission from James “Jim” Payne, “Through their eyes” http://www.throughtheireyes2.co.uk/, from whom a CD of these images is available. Photos also at http://warsailors.com/singleships/norland.html, again with the permission of Mr. Payne.Whilst the U-108’s officers and crew dealt death blows to their ship – expending between 150 and 200 shells on her demise – the three lifeboats went alongside each other. Two boys from one of the lifeboats were transferred to Captain Christoffersen’s boat in which Cohen, his friend Ronnie, and the Chief Radio Officer McNeil sat. The final disposition of the boats was:

Since it can be confusing, given the number of rescue vessels, here is a breakdown of how each boat was rescued:

·Boat 1: by USCG Cutters 453 and 473 on Sunday 7 June and taken to Morehead City, North Carolina

·Boat 2: by the Dutch ship Melampus, landed in Halifax Sunday May 31st.

·Boat 3: by the Dutch ship Polyphemus Monday 25 May (sunk again by U-578/Rehwinkel on 27 May – then rescued by six other vessels, breakdown below)

Cohen’s narrative of the open boat voyage is worth reading, in part because the boats soon became separated. One of the boats lost contact with the Captain’s and another boat on Saturday the 23rd of May and the other late on Monday the 25th. Cohen states that their shared destination at the outset was Bermuda, the nearest land. On board Christoffersen’s boat was a water storage tank under the seat and in other spaces were Pemmican (a meat paste), chocolate, and hard biscuits. Among the supplies found were a battery-operated radio (which apparently did not function well), flares, some blankets, a compass, and a First Aid kit.

Since the boat was equipped with eight oars and a mast and sails, they were able to utilize a good breeze on the first few days and make to the westwards. But when the wind died they were obliged to row for it, and the boy’s tender hands quickly blistered. Their rations were “….one square of chocolate, a biscuit with a cube of Pemmican about the size of a thumbnail, and a very small drop of water.”

The weather was mostly clear except for a terrible storm which lasted a whole night, most of their energy was focused on scanning the horizon for rescue. While some of the men swam, one of them unwisely tangled with a potentially fatal Portuguese Man-O-War jelly fish, and suffered from the toxins thereafter. Apparently the men did not fish, however they collected moisture on a tarpaulin, and were very thirsty. They did manage to capture and eat flying fish which landed on the sail and in the boat.

As an indication of just how active the waters off Bermuda were to Axis submarines in the winter and spring of 1942, on the 10th day in the boat (about Saturday 30 May), the Norland men came across an abandoned life raft. They scoured it for provisions and found none – only Captain Christoffersen noted which ship it had come from. Over time they became sunburnt and their legs ached, despite the refreshing dips in the water (non-swimmers tied a rope around their waist). Each day one of the officers or crew was convinced they had seen a rescue craft. One afternoon they were surrounded by a pod of whales which swam harmlessly on.

Whilst the boat, which had by then over-shot Bermuda and was making for the American mainland, was making a good clip under sail they spotted another life raft. This was from an American ship and provided the men with “…a small container of water and a container with several little bottles of vitamin tablets. This was a gift from heaven, as our water supply was very low.” On Friday the 5thof June they were in the Gulf Stream and were able to digest seaweed and the little crabs which drifted with it.

The following day, Saturday the 6th of June, another false alarm. What the men thought was a rescue ship was in fact an Allied vessel sunk by enemy submarines in such shallow water that its mast and funnel were above water. The captain pointed out that it must mean land was not far away. Because of the radio transmissions and the captain’s encouragement, the men believed that rescue was imminent. However for the captain’s boat it was not to be the case, and they would ultimately sail, drift and row over 1,000 nautical miles nearly three weeks (18 days) before they were spotted by aircraft a mere 25 miles, bearing 155 degrees from Cape Lookout, North Carolina on Sunday the 7thof June.Cohen records that “At noon on the 18th day, an aeroplane was spotted some distance from our position. A flare was fired and we saw the plane turn and come in our direction. He flew in low and circled round us several times. We knew that he would signal his sighting and our position to his base. An hour or so later, at 3:55 pm local time, a U.S. Navy P.T. boat [actually CGC 453] was sighted. It pulled alongside and we all clambered aboard. With the lifeboat towed astern [actually by CGC 473], the rescue boat headed towards their base ashore. This was Morehead City, North Carolina, where the men landed at 5:45 pm. Their lifeboat followed, arriving at 6:30 pm, sparing the men a 19thday on the open water. Cohen records that “The sailors offered us coffee or buttermilk. I only sipped the milk and the taste was awful… I was offered an orange, and this I gulped down without any bother….”.

US Coast Guard 83-foot cutter 453 which rescued men from the Norland of the Carolina coast.

Photo Source: “Historic photos of 83 Footers from around the world,”

http://www.cg83527.org/83footerphotos.htm

Those rescued on the captain’s boat included Advisory Engineer Sidney Clifford Paige, Welsh, aged 44, Engine Boys Miller and Hannah (both 16), Ronald John Wilson (“Ronnie”), Scotch Mess Boy, aged 15, and Fireman Arthur Hardy Ballard, of South Africa, age 23. The US Navy sailors retrieved two sweaters, six blankets, 12 lifejackets, a flare, four gallons of oil, the First Aid kit, a “distress outfit,”, a radio transmitter and receiver, and three lights from the boat.

The 15 men were very well looked after by US Navy doctors. The American Red Cross fitted them with a complete set of civilian clothes. Then after about three days of recuperation a representative of Nortraship arrived and provided transportation by bus, ferry and rail to New York City. During the trip strangers offered the men an boys, who didn’t yet have money, food, drink and conversation. They were put up in a hotel on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

The Soldiers’, Sailors’ Marines’ Coast Guard & Airmen’s Club, since 1919, on Lexington Avenue New York, where young William Cohen and Ronnie Wilson stayed in June, 1942.

Photo Source: http://ssmaclub.org/?page_id=5

During their say young Cohen and Ronnie Wilson befriended Harry Garber, whose father outfitted them with merchant mariner uniforms. Ultimately they were paid US$150.00, most of which was rationed out to them by Mr. Garber so they didn’t spend it all at once. They moved to the Soldiers and Sailors Club on Lexington Avenue and went sightseeing, ultimately catching another ship back to the UK. Fortunately they met some of their shipmates in Brooklyn and were able to hear of their trials which enabled them, too to reach shore safely.

The Dutch ship Melampus, built 1924 and lost in 1950. She rescued survivors of the Norland.

Boat 2 under the command of First (Chief) Officer Schmidt was rescued by the Dutch ship Malampus. This Dutch ship was built in 1924 by Palmer and owned by the Dutch steam ship firm “Oceaan” of Prins Hendrikkade 159-160 Amsterdam. Her particulars were 5,280 gross tons, 6,250 deadweight cargo carrying tons, 137 meters overall, 16.69 meters wide and 9.17 meters deep. Her two steam turbines developed 4,350 bhp and propelled the ship at 13 knots.

Little is known about the exact location and date that the men were rescued, however it is known that all 19 men survived and were landed in Halifax on Sunday the 31st of May, 11 days after the attack. Most likely the survivors caught passage on some of the many Allied ships leaving Halifax for the UK in convoys that spring. Of note is that there were only seven ships in the “Oceaan” fleet, and one of the other vessels, the Polyphemus, was to play an instrumental role in the rescue of the 14 remaining men in Boat 3 under Second Officer Bjelde.

The Dutch Motor Ship M/S Polyphemus which rescued a lifeboat with 14 members of the Norland’s officers and crew. It was itself sunk the following day (27 May) further scattering the Norland boys and men.

Boat 3 under Second Officer (Mate) Bjelde was rescued on Monday the 25th of May 585 nautical miles southeast of Nantucket but only 25 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda, a testament to the strong navigational skills of Bjelde, as they boats originally had set out for Bermuda five days before. The rescue vessel was the Polyphemus of the same “Oceaan” ownership in the Netherlands as the Melampus, which had rescued Boat 2. The Polyhemus was a diesel-motor ship of 6,269 gross tons built by Scott’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited in Greenock, Scotland in 1930. She could carry 7,950 tons of cargo as well as passengers, and appears from the photograph (above) to have been fitted with at least five life boats.

The Polyphemus’ dimensions were 430.5 feet long, 56.4 feet wide, 27.1 feet deep, and she could motor at 14.5 knots, propelled by two 687 net-horsepower engines turning double propellers. She was a large, fast ship manned by 66 personnel led by Captain C. Koningstein. The ship was on its way from Sydney Australia via Panama to Halifax and Liverpool carrying wheat and wool.

The Polyphemus was able to make good 335 nautical miles northwards during the next 30 or so hours before it was itself sunk starting at 6:18 pm on Tuesday 26thMay (six days after the Norland’s sinking) in position 38° 12’N, 63° 22’W, 350 nautical miles southeast of Nantucket. When two torpedoes from U-578 under Ernst-August Rehwinkel tore the stern accommodation off the Polyphemus 15 Chinese seamen were killed.

The surviving men from both the Polyphemus (51 men) and the Norland (14) then boarded five lifeboats, which together were sighted by three (3) submarines (U-566/Borchert, U-593/Kelbling, and an unidentified boat) and rescued by six (6) vessels. The six vessels which rescued the Norland survivors after they were rescued by the Polyphemus were: